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■ BEST BET
■ • The Red end Black » Thursday, May 20, 1993
SOUND
If your not home glued to the T.V. watching the last episode of
you-know-what, head to the Shoebox for some rightous rock n'
roll with Hayrlde and Atlanta’s Donkey, which I hear is sup
posed to be mmm, mm mighty good.
Mann handles variety of music with ‘Whatever’
By MARK HOMES
Staff Writer
ALBUM REVIEW
Aimee Mann.Whatever (Imago)
It’s pleasing to see Aimee Mann back on the
scene after such a long hiatus, especially with
a great album like this.
"Whatever* is the first solo album from this
former lead singer of Til Tuesday, and it
proves that she’s doing just fine on her own.
Til Tuesday had one hit back in the mid
eighties with the song “Voices Carry," which
put Mann on MTV for a short while, but not
long enough to keep the band hot.
Three albums and a new decade saw the
demise of the group, leaving Mann to pursue
a singing career on her own. One stop along
the way included some back-up vocal work
with Rush for their "Hold Your Fire" album
and a cameo in one of their videos.
Although that was probably lots of fun, it
sure didn’t make much of a job, and it didn’t
appear that any labels were interested in
Mann at the moment.
So, Mann recorded her latest album on her
own time and wound up signing with the up-
and-coming Imago label in New York City.
When recording “Whatever," she was
helped by some former bandmates along with
the guitar and vocal work of Roger McGuinn,
who was a key member of the Byrds.
The result is an album that has many hints
of ’60s psychedelia with a unique blend of folk
phrasings and rock spirit.
“I Should’ve Known" starts the album with
an early rock/pop-flavored feel that incorpo
rates a great deal of background vocals and
psych-organs. There’s even a barely audible
Beatlesque trumpet call wailing in the back
ground.
Apparently, Mann is trying to cover all the
bases here, and it actually works more often
than not. This is not a blatantly retro piece,
because you have to really listen to catch it
and that makes it exciting.
The song, “Fifty Years After the Fair" re
minds me so much of Tom Petty that I swear
I can hear his voice in the backing vocals. No
kidding. He’s not listed in the album credits,
but it sure as hell sounds like him.
Maybe it’s just McGuinn playing tricks on
us. Anyway, this song is cool, and it should
fare well with the jingle-jangly rock fans out
there.
For those of you that dig the traditional
acoustic feel, there’s the lovely “4th of July,"
which lets Mann’s vocals take the wheel for a
while.
This is what I call “sleepy music," and I’m
sure that you'll feel the same after being lulled
by this one.
There’s a strange twist on “Could’ve Been
Anyone," with funky-sample beginnings that
make a complete turn when it evolves into a
standard rock tune.
The cool thing is that this soul “sample"
stays in the background throughout the track,
leaving a subliminal groove on the song. This
is the hit of the album, just wait and see.
“Jacob Marley’ Chain” has a haunting gui
tar that mixes well with Mann’s flat vocal
part. There’s a curious string part that just
kind of floats around in the middle of it all.
Very nice touch, and it works so well.
Producer Jon Brion deserves a big pay-
check for all the subtle backgrounds he put on
this album, because they really make this CD
more than just another solo album by just an
other artist.
Aimee Mann has a great record on her
FIB
Aimee Mann, former lead singer of 'Til
Tuesday, released her first solo album.
hands, and it would be a shame if her career
doesn’t pick up a great deal in the near future.
You want new and interesting? Here it is;
go grab it.
Sheep on Drugs: They must be
By MICHAEL BERGEN
Staff Writer
Sheep On Drug. Greatest Hits
(Smash)
Sheep On Drug* don’t care
about you, but they’ll give you
what you need anyway. They apit
on society. Their mueic is about
rock ’n roll atuff — sax, drugs,
money, death and motorbikes.
They look like character* from a
horror movie. And they’re about to
ba huge pop star*.
Just look at ths India charts in
Great Britain, where Sheep On
Drugs have had 6 top tan smash
es and have gathered a horde of
fan* known aa the “Drug Squad.”
For a band so bent on hating
practically everything about the
world, they take pleasure in being
worshiped Just like a good band
should.
Their debut album haa just hit
the United States, Ironically titled
“Greatest Hit*.’ With their infec
tious blend of punk spirit, indus
trial house beats and mascara-
drenched looks, they hope
America will be ae kind aa their
native country.
Sheep On Drugs can moat eas
ily be compared to the aex-indua-
trial-disoo band My Life With The
Thrill Kill Kult, although that
would be selling them short
Their lyrics are almost laugh
ably pretentious, sleazy and ego
tistical. But for some reason, they
are for real. And their debut is a
laugh-riot.
The insanity begins with
■ ALBUM REVIEW
“Uberman," where lead Sheep
Duncan sneers, “Say goodbye to
Johnny Rotten/Say hello to
Uberman.* The music is an odd
mixture of styles; a dash of cold
shoulder vocals (all dona with
Duncan's strong British accent) in.
the industrial vain, pounding
house beau and goth-rock sam
ples.
Kinky leather-sex is often a
running theme on ‘Greatest Hite*
Lika the Thrill Kill Kult, Sheep
On Drugs make no bones about
their lewd sexual desires, bagging
to be dominated and sprinkling
sexual innuendo thourghout al
most every tune.
Sure, the Sheep addressee oth
er issues. According to them, their
name is a comment on tha mun
dane culture of England, where
ravers and grangers roam from
club to club, looking and acting
the tame.
On “Fifteen Minutes of Fame ”
they spew venom at the silly world
of pop stars, while on “Catch 22,*
they show their prickly hatred for
the 9-to-6 corporate society. They
have a lot to say, but it’s hard to
take their views seriously.
Apparently, that’s th* point
Sheep On Drag* are so out
there it's scary, but they’re mak
ing rock ’n roll music the way it’s
supposed to be made.
They have the punk spirit in
them, ready to strike at authority
and trash the rales. Givs them an
‘A’ for effort.
Pursuit’s third album the best yet with great lyrics, upbeat pop
By GRANT GOGGANS
Staff Writer
The Pursuit of Happtnese: The Downward
Road (Mercury)
More often than not, record reviewers
like myself have to sum up the debut al
bum from an artist saying it’s not so great,
but the band’s okay, and they’ll probably
go on to better things, when honestly, they
probably won’t.
They'll usually split up or get worse.
Thank heaven for the third release from
Toronto’s The Pursuit of Happiness.
Their first LP, back in 1988, was a real
lousy effort, with one great song (“I’m an
Adult Now") and nine that were no good.
■ ALBUM REVIEW
The hamfisted production of Todd
Rundgren, one of rock’s worst producers,
didn’t help at all.
This is a different story altogether. “The
Downward Road" simply is a great record.
With the continuing metaphors of love
as a downward road, or growing up as a
“descent to adulthood,” “The Downward
Road” opens with a snatch of an old
Staples Singers’ recording with that same
name. It then bursts into “Cigarette
Dangles,” a blistering guitar attack by
frontman Moe Berg and Kris Abbott, with
Berg’s sing-song vocals teetering in front.
It’s a hilarious song about a violent
evening of sex, with none of the juvenile
lyrics you’d think, given the subject mat
ter.
Berg’s great lyrics (“I hear the cats
scratching at the door/You say Til feed
them later, get back on the flooO have fi
nally found comfort with the band’s long-
overdue tightness and Ed Stasium’s sparse
production.
None of the silly Phil Spector wanna be
production tricks that Rundgren filled the
first two albums with are present.
With just the very first song, TPOH will
force you to reevaluate “Love Junk” and
“One Sided Story.” Those really aren’t bad
albums so much as they are imperfect.
They should have been classics, but
weren’t. I’m even thinking that “She’s So
Young,” the detestable second single off
“Love Junk," had a little charm to it.
It’s all uphill on this supposedly down
ward road, though. While the first song is
outstanding and better than anything else
Moe Berg and company have done, it’s also
one of the worst songs here, but only by
comparison.
The only track that really isn’t that
great is an instrumental “Love Theme
from TPOH.” I wasn’t until after I’d heard
and disliked it that I learned Todd
Rundgren plays on it. Honestly.
Among the many standout songs are
“Heavy Metal Tears,” another of Berg’s
patented irony songs.
Another tune, “Honeytime," dares to in
clude Winnie the Pooh in a recurring dou
ble-entendre and pulls it off, and “A Villa
in Portugal," features guest guitarist Jules
Shear.
They’re all excellent songs, and TPOH
will be hard-pressed to better them on
forthcoming albums.
Best of all is the album’s “token feel
good love song,” an upbeat pop beauty
called “Pressing Lips.” The song includes
the delightful refrain, “Mark my face with
tangerine lipstick,” which won’t get out of
your head for days, but that’s all right; you
won’t want it to.
“The Downward Road” isn’t entirely
perfect, but it’s a frequently charming and
sometimes exciting release. If you enjoy
anything from this catalog called
“pop/rock,” you'll enjoy this.
4PTY
READ,
THEN
REC-
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